In the book of Genesis, Chapter 10, we learn that Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the son who sodomized Noah while Noah was under the influence of too much wine.
Ham fathered Cush and Cush fathered Nimrod who “became a mighty one on earth.” Genesis 10:8.
Nimrod established his kingdom by building cities and controlling them, the first of which was Babel in the land of Shinar.
So where was Shinar? I am so glad you asked.
When Noah’s ark landed it was on mountains of Ararat, in modern day east Turkey. Ararat consists of two peaks, the Greater Ararat, and Little Ararat. We do not know on which peak the ark landed but we know the general vicinity. According to Wikipedia, the mountains of Ararat are in the extreme east of Turkey. Ararat lies just outside the borders of Armenia and is considered a sacred mountain by Armenians.
As Noah’s sons spread out some of them immigrated to the east to near the Gulf of Persia. The Bible refers to this area as the land of Shinar and the land of Ur. We know it more recently as Babylon.
This whole area of Shinar has a lot of history. The garden of Eden was nearby if not in the valley. The Bible places Eden on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. There were two other rivers mentions in Genesis but there is much controversy as to where they were and what they are currently named.
The Land of the Chaldees is said to be on the left bank of the Euphrates, which is also where the Shinar was defined to be located.
Genesis 9:1, God told Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
After the flood Shem, Ham, and Japheth had sons and daughters and they began to spread out to repopulate the earth.
Fast forward to Genesis 11. Here the inhabitants of the earth were all speaking the same language. As they migrated to the East they came to the land of Shinar. As mentioned above the land of Shinar is near the Euphrates river, in southern Mesopotamia.
Some believe that Nimrod may have been the king that instigated the building of the tower but Nimrod was already in Shinar. Wikipedia tells us, “After the Flood, the sons of Shem, Ham, and Japheth stayed first in the highlands of Armenia and then migrated to Shinar.“ Shinar is east of Armenia so perhaps, Nimrod was the king at that time. The Bible does not give us those details.
God had told Noah and his sons to multiply and inhabit the whole earth. The leadership in Babel rebelled and said “we need to unite and make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad.” God’s plan was for the people to disperse and become their own people but the leadership of Babel went against that plan.
Building the tall tower has been preached as the people’s attempt to reach heaven without God. The translations of the Bible that I have says they wanted to build a city and a tower whose top would reach into heaven.
If there was an attempt to see what heaven was like it did not include God. The scripture leaves a lot of room for speculation.
Some believe that the languages came as a judgement on the peoples sinful behavior. It seems obvious that finding God was not in their plans. They wanted to make a name for themselves and in my opinion, become the ruler of all people.
My perception of that is that Nimrod wanted to develop the first super power since the flood.
I have a hard time believing that God was being threatened by all this. Building a tower whose top reaches into heaven was a risk for the builders. This tower would be taller than any mountains and the air so rarified that it could be a risk for those who tried to climb to its top.
God had told Noah to multiply and fill the whole earth. This project was a definite violation of God’s plan. He wanted the whole earth inhabited and I believe he wanted cultures to develop and become what God had design them to be.
Yes, the languages were a judgement against a disobedient people. God’s plan was diversity and He forced the issue by giving the languages.